For years, West Ashley has been the homebase of the area’s underground Guerilla Cuisine supper club, led by the charismatic “jimihatt.” (If he were taller, he would also be considered “shadowy.”)
Operating from an undisclosed residence on this side of the Ashley River, jimihatt has been for the past eight years, this month, organizing, recruiting for, and putting on the area’s most enigmatic dining experience.
Guerrilla Cuisine brings together some of the area’s top chefs (Sean Brock, Craig Deihl, etc.) to prepare and serve multi-course dinners, replete with as many as 10 dishes, and live music and local art.
The catch is: diners who fork over as much as $80 for a spot at the meal, have no idea where the meal is going to be held until the day of the event. And they have no idea what deliciousness is on the menu.
Past sites have included a downtown former cigar factory, and an airplane hangar on Johns Island.
Participants just pay up, show up, drink up, and eat it up. So that GC can travel light, it’s BYOB; that way paperwork is kept to a minimum, and lessens the chance of being interfered with by The Man.
It seems to be working, eight years in, as jimihatt reports that anywhere from 50 to 80 percent of diners are new guests at each event.
“My guests, seriously, range from punk rockers to blue-haired grannies,” says jimihatt, who has been working at The Americano, the new Cuban-influenced restaurant in Mt. Pleasant, between underground gigs.
Keeping with the “commoner who cooks good” vibe jimihatt refuses to capitalize his name, and pretty much cuts the guest chef an even split on the take for the evening.
He’s got another pop-up restaurant dining experience coming up in December. Or is it January? Check in at his Guerilla Cuisine page on Facebook for updates on troops movement.
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